RAWALPINDI/KARACHI: The chief of army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa delivered on his promise made to PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and ordered the removal of concerned officers of the ISI and Rangers who were involved in the kidnapping of IG Sindh on the eve of the arrest of Captain Safdar who was hounded in his hotel room alongside his wife, Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “Court of Inquiry on the orders of COAS pertaining to the issue of redress of Inspector General Police Sindh’s grievances, in the backdrop of 18 Oct 2020 Karachi incident, has been completed.”
ISPR added: “The Court of Inquiry has established that on night 18 / 19 Oct officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and ISI sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fall out of desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid.”
“They were under increasing public pressure to ensure prompt action as per the law,” read the statement.
The ISPR held that the “concerned” officers had acted “overzealously” in a “charged environment” due to the “slow and wanting” response by the police authorities.
“Based on the recommendations of the Court of Inquiry, it has been decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at GHQ,” the ISPR added.
Responding to the ISPR’s statement, Minister for Information Shibli Faraz, who had earlier termed the incident a political gimmick by the PPP, appreciated the army chief for initiating the inquiry and implementing the recommendations given by the court of inquiry.
“But the [Army] has given its decision and we welcome it,” Faraz said.
“We accept what happened. Since the issue concerned Quaid-e-Azam, they [security officials] acted emotionally, which I feel they should not have.”
